Ravens Steelers Spread and Early Betting Line for Playoffs

This is as good as it gets for a football fan. The intensity, execution and respect these two organizations have for one another fuels the rivalry. Yet the Baltimore-Pittsburgh matchup has never been a great one for Charm City. The Colts only had a 3-9 record versus the Steelers, coupled with the Ravens’ 11-19 mark against the Steel City gang making for an overall 14-28 mark for Baltimore pro football teams versus the Steelers. Many of those Steelers wins against the Ravens were early on during an 11-4 run of domination. Since 2003, however, the Ravens have gone 8-9 versus their bitterest of rivals. Filling opponents hearts with gridiron terrors, their rustling Purple Curtain defense is thrilling. At Heinz Field, they’ll battle the Pittsburgh Steelers this Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. If they defeat Pittsburgh, then they’ll either travel to No. 1 seed New England or host the No. 6 seeded New York Jets.

Ray Rice averaged—get this—26 yards rushing and three yards per carry in the two games against Pittsburgh this season. Pittsburgh allows only 62.8 rushing yards per game, Baltimore gives up about 94. Rice has averaged 56.2 yards per game against the Steelers in his career, but he also has 21.6 yards per game as a receiver. The former Rutgers Scarlet Knight had a total of 99 yards between rushing and receiving in last week’s ‘W’ over the Kansas City Chiefs, and figure he’ll at the very least need to match that output to help Baltimore pull the upset on Sunday. LB Terrelle Suggs has done his share of talking since the Ravens advanced past the AFC wild-card round with a 30-7 win at Kansas City last Sunday. He said after that game that Saturday’s game at Heinz Field would be “Armageddon” because of the stakes involved and how physical the games are when the Ravens and Steelers collide. The Ravens will have to ensure that Joe Flacco stays on his feet for Baltimore to have any shot of knocking off the division champs. He was sacked four more times on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, now making it so he has been dropped 44 times in 17 games this year, an average of over 2.5 times per game. The Steelers are notorious for blitzing from every angle, and this won’t be the exception on Saturday. Pittsburgh got to him four times in Week 13, and if it can get into the backfield and make life hell on the former Delaware Blue Hen once again, the Ravens are going to be in a lot of trouble.

Ben Roethlisberger has won his past six starts against the Ravens, including one that sent the Steelers to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season. But the Steelers’ quarterback has also had his nose broken by the Ravens, and Baltimore is where he absorbed the worst beating of his career (nine sacks in a 2006 game).Mendenhall will again be in Lewis’ sights. He could be a bit timid going through the holes and hurt the Steelers running game. He’s averaged only 62 yards rushing against Baltimore, but he could be big in the screen game and pass protection. Mendenhall probably won’t be able to run the ball for over 100 yards against the Ravens. Look for end-arounds to Mike Wallace and the Steelers specialty players to help in the run game. If you take a look at the special teams, you will see that Steelers new kicker Shaun Suisham has done a fine job replacing Jeff Reed as he has made 93% of his field goals this season. However, the edge on special teams goes Baltimore because their kicker, Billy Cundiff, is a Pro Bowler this year. He has made 29 of 32 attempts this season and was a perfect 3-for-3 against Kansas City. Aside from that, the Ravens (in Week 4), New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, and New England Patriots all have wins against these guys right here at Heinz Field. We have seen Pittsburgh’s season come to an end here in Steel Town as well, as its last elimination from the playoffs came at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2008. This is a bugaboo that must be overcome for Pittsburgh to make it to the AFC Championship game.

Ravens vs Steelers Spread and Early Lines:

Spread:

Baltimore Ravens +3
@ Pittsburgh Steelers -3

Game Total Line:

Over (-110)
36.5
Under (-110)

These lines are right where you would expect them for a clash between rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. Both clubs like to play “lights out”, tenacious, and brutal defense with most games being decided by few points. I do not see this line changing by kickoff Saturday, there is an outside chance that we see the Steelers drop to -2.5. The last 3 meetings between these two storied franchises have not featured a spread more then -3. As for the OVER/UNDER, I believe there is still some wiggle room for this line to move down. We tend to see early betting lines always exaggerate the OVER, rather then the UNDER, due to the fact that injury reports are not taken into account. By Saturday I expect to see a OVER/UNDER line closer to 35, even a 34.5. Both clashes in 2010 did not produce a game total over 31 and those game were not NFL playoff football, things will get even tighter.

Interesting enough, as of this moment the public seems to be putting there dimes on the Ravens. In the Joe Flacco era, the two teams have squared off seven times, Flacco winning just twice. Over this span, the average score is Pittsburgh 18, Baltimore 15.7. Hence the three-point spread favoring Pittsburgh. The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Baltimore’s last 7 games and has gone UNDER in 7 of Baltimore’s last 10 games on the road. Baltimore is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh and 2-9 SU in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Baltimore, but s 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Baltimore. Look forward to an entertaining clash!

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